Stolen Moments
by DBSean
Summary: No matter how much Adora and Catra loved one another they were on opposite sides of a war, and that wasn't going to change anytime soon. But these brief snapshots, these stolen moments between them, made it all worth it.


" **Stolen Moments"**

 **A/N: The fluff is strong with this one, folks. Enjoy!**

Catra was unconscious when Adora found her.

The Second Battle of Bright Moon had just come to an end, and the Horde was once again in full retreat. With the majority of the Rebellion busy aiding the wounded and securing the perimeter of the palace, Adora (as She-Ra, of course) had elected to join Glimmer and Bow in scouring the surrounding woods for any signs of straggling Horde soldiers or potential traps left behind for future use. She had just been ready to call it a day and head back when she spied her former friend lying on the ground, unconscious but otherwise none the worse for wear.

Adora knew she should have alerted Glimmer or Bow, or at least subdued Catra while she was down. But, of course, that's not what she ended up doing. Instead, she kneeled down beside her enemy and began shaking her by the shoulder.

"Catra, wake up!" Adora hissed loudly, trying to stir Catra without alerting anyone else of what she was doing. "Come on, I know you're not hurt! Get up!"

Soon enough, Adora heard Catra begin to groan, and then her eyes began to flutter open.

"What…?" Catra moaned groggily, blinking again and again in hopes of clearing her vision. "Scorpia? Is that you?"

"No, dummy, it's Adora!" Adora whispered back.

"Oh, heyyyyy, Adora," Catra replied casually, smiling as she did so, clearly still in the midst of coming to. Then Adora watched as Catra's eyes suddenly shot wide open and her senses returned to her all at once. "Wait… _Adora_?!"

A moment later, Catra was back on her feet, tail bristling and claws poised for attack as she regarded the warrior before her. Adora, for her part, merely rolled her eyes and stood back up as well, towering over Catra as the eight-foot tall Princess of Power.

"What is this? What's going on?" Catra asked accusingly, her eyes darting around quickly as she tried to find her bearings.

"You were unconscious and I woke you up," Adora answered straightforwardly, well aware of how close Glimmer and Bow must be. "You're welcome, by the way. Now, hurry up, the battle's over. You have to get out of here before someone else finds you!"

Catra blinked. "You're…not going to take me prisoner?"

"Obviously," Adora hissed back impatiently. "Now hurry up and get going!"

"Adora? Is that you?"

Both Adora and Catra froze as they heard Bow speaking from nearby, certainly no farther away than fifty feet or so, but far enough away that he clearly didn't see the two of them. Catra's eyes immediately widened and her ears perked up as she realized she was now outnumbered, her survival instincts beginning to kick in.

"You okay, Adora? You find anything?"

All Adora had to do was tell Bow where Catra was, and it would be over. Catra would be captured and made a prisoner of the Rebellion, never again to see the outside world. For a brief and terrifying moment, Catra realized her fate rested entirely in Adora's hands.

She needn't have worried.

"Nothing back here!" Adora shouted back into the woods, finally breaking eye contact with Catra in order to do so. "You keep going! I'll finish looking around and then head back!"

"You got it, see you back at the palace!" came Bow's reply, quickly followed by the sounds of his footsteps moving farther and farther away until he was once again lost in the overgrowth.

Catra had already disappeared when Adora turned back around, leaving her simultaneously grateful that she had finally taken the hint and disappointed that she hadn't had a chance to say goodbye. She was just about to head back to Bright Moon when she heard the light rustling in the trees above her, accompanied by a familiar voice.

"Thanks."

Then whatever was in the trees was gone. Adora smiled.

 _You're welcome._

Another day, another battle.

That's what was going through Adora's head as she sliced through swathes of Horde soldiers, ice and snow crunching beneath her boots. The kingdom of Snows was under attack by the Horde and, as such, she and her friends were duty-bound to respond. She-Ra had taken the lead, as she so often was expected to, and charged directly into the invading forces with sword in hand.

Adora looked up as she punched out yet another Horde soldier just in time to see Bow fly by on Swift Wind, raining arrows down upon the tanks and drones slowly making their way towards the Castle of Snows. Glimmer was currently among the rest of the Rebellion forces on the other side of the conflict, blasting away every soldier in her path before teleporting to another part of the line and repeating the strategy.

Unfortunately for Adora, she was so busy watching her friends that she didn't notice when am armored Horde soldier easily as big as She-Ra leaped into the fray. He was upon her in a moment, and Adora wasn't even aware of what was happening until the brute had punched her clear across the icy plain.

"Uhhh!" Adora cried out as she landed in a pile of snow with such force that it knocked the air out of her lungs. She looked up just in time to see the Horde brute running at her from across the plain, evidently intent on finishing the job.

"Down with She-Ra!" cried the brute as he charged at the Princess of Power, his helmeted head lowered like that of a rhino.

 _This is it_ , Adora thought to herself.

 _ZAACCK!_

Adora was just about to give in and accept her fate when _something_ struck her enemy from behind, and with enough strength that it brought him to his knees. The brute roared in agonizing pain as bolts of green lightning surged throughout his form. A moment later, he was facedown and smoking in the snow, unconscious, revealing Catra standing behind him with a smoking electroshock rod.

"Catra?" Adora asked weakly, almost as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing. "Did you just…save my life?"

Catra looked just as confused as Adora, looking back and forth between her former friend and the smoking rod in her hands as if she hadn't even been aware of her own actions. It was the groan of the brute lying in the snow in front of her that finally snapped Catra out of it, causing her to scowl.

"Just…consider us even!" she shouted at Adora before tossing the electroshock rod into a nearby snowdrift. "And don't you dare tell anyone about this!"

Then she was bounding off across the icy plains, eager to rejoin the battle, where things made sense. Adora smiled softly as she stood back up, picking up her fallen sword and watching Catra disappear into the distance.

"Who would believe me if I did?" she wondered aloud.

It was the final evening of the planet's calendar year, and all of Etheria's most esteemed guests had gathered to celebrate the advent of a new year. As a show of good faith to both the Rebellion and the Horde, Entrapta had offered to host the annual dance in Dryl. Having promised not to attack anyone or blow anything up, Catra had thus spent most of the evening lounging around the buffet and avoiding contact with the robotic waiters catering to the guests' every whim.

"May I have this dance?"

Catra had just been considering sneaking out early when she heard someone speaking from behind her, and turned to find Adora standing there in her resplendent white dress, smiling shyly and offering her hand. It took a moment for Catra to register that Adora had been speaking to _her_ , and Adora took full advantage of that as her smile slowly transformed into a smirk.

"What's the matter?" Adora asked teasingly, still offering her hand. "Cat got your tongue?"

Catra scowled. "You think you're sooo funny."

She suddenly felt very underdressed standing next to Adora, who, it seemed, was trying to channel She-Ra even now, her white dress and gold trim a stark contrast to the dim and gloomy colors of the kingdom of Dryl.

"So…" Adora said again, blushing as she began to grow embarrassed. "Dance?"

Catra considered it for a moment before smiling. "Sure. Why not?"

 _What harm could it do?_

Taking Adora's hand in her own, Catra led her onto the dance floor and they soon found themselves swaying to the music, Catra's hands on Adora's hips and Adora's arms resting easily on Catra's shoulders. It was a traditional slow dance, thankfully, and there were no spotlights this time, meaning neither had to worry about potentially being interrupted.

"I like your suit," Adora said after a while.

"This is the same suit I wore to the Princess Prom," Catra reminded her, raising an eyebrow questioningly.

"I know," Adora said, diverting her eyes and blushing lightly. "I liked it then, too. I just…never had a chance to tell you."

Catra smirked. "You look good, too. You know, for a princess."

They danced till the end of the song, and when it was over, neither of them made any move to break apart or suggest another activity. They merely kept dancing as the next song began, changing only their tempo and rhythm to better match that of the music. Over time, the two even found themselves drifting closer and closer together, the war beyond the walls of the castle slowly being forgotten, at least temporarily.

"I like this," Adora said softly. "Spending time with you. Without you trying to kill me, I mean. It's nice."

"To each their own, I suppose," Catra said with a smirk, doing her best to ignore how her heart fluttered when Adora laughed.

"Do you think…do you think it could ever be like this again?" Adora asked, her voice so soft and so low that Catra almost had trouble hearing her.

"Probably not," Catra answered honestly, feeling her heart sink as she saw Adora's face fall in response. "But…there's always tonight, right?"

Adora smiled sadly. "Yeah. There's always tonight."

Neither Adora nor Catra knew which of them initiated the kiss, only that it felt like the most natural thing in the world at the time. Their eyes closed, their arms tightened around each other, and their lips remained locked until both of them were in desperate need for air.

In the end, Catra decided not to sneak out early. In fact, she ended up spending far more time in Dryl than she had planned.

"Hey, Adora."

 _Of course she would be here_ , Adora thought to herself as she looked up into the canopy above her to find Catra lounging in the branches of a nearby tree. It was late, and the Whispering Woods were dark and unusually quiet, still having not fully recovered from the cataclysmic climate change forced upon them by the Horde's experiment with the Black Garnet.

"You're out pretty late, aren't you?" Catra asked lazily, smirking all the while. "You better be careful, Adora; there are dangerous things out in these woods after dark."

"Nothing more dangerous than I am," Adora responded with her own smirk, placing her hands on her hips as though trying to assert some kind of authority. "What about you? Does _Hordak_ know where his favorite Force Captain is?"

Catra laughed. "Let's just say being second-in-command of the Horde has its perks."

Adora watched with amusement as Catra leapt from her branch to another, and then another, before finally settling on one that was only about five feet or so above Adora, enough that they could more easily talk to one another, but still far enough away that Catra was just out of Adora's reach. She couldn't be sure, but Adora had the distinct impression that Catra was toying with her, like a cat with a mouse, and she swore she heard the other girl purring.

"So," Catra finally asked, "whatcha doing?"

Adora rolled her eyes. "If you _must_ know, I'm looking for a First Ones' relic. Bow picked something up on his scanner and I thought I would take a look."

"A First Ones' relic?" Catra repeated, dramatically scratching her chin in thought as she did so. "Oh, wait…you mean like _this_ one?"

With that, Catra pulled a mechanical crystal from out of the one of the many pouches on her belt, revealing it to Adora. The crystal was clearly First Ones' technology, Adora knew immediately, both because of its gentle humming and the dim light that glowed within it; she didn't even need to pull out her own scanner or the Sword of Protection to confirm that this was exactly what she had come out into the Whispering Woods to find.

"I found it in a cave about half a mile from here," Catra said nonchalantly as she balanced the crystal on a single finger. "It looked important, so I figured I would hold onto it for you."

"How thoughtful of you," Adora commented flatly, her eyes still on the crystal. "But I'm here now, so hand it over, and I'll be on my way."

"I mean, I _could_ just give it to you," Catra replied with a smirk, finally leaping from her branch and landing on the grassy ground right in front of Adora, her tail wrapping around the relic in order to free her hands. "But I think I'd like it better if you… _persuaded_ me to give it up."

"Persuade you?" Adora asked, already feeling a light bluish begin to form. "Persuade you _how_?"

"Oh, I dunno," Catra whispered softly, sending chills running down Adora's spine. "Use your imagination."

A moment later, Adora had Catra's face in her hands and she was kissing her with everything she had. Catra responded readily, moaning into the kiss as she felt Adora's hands move into her unruly hair before quickly taking Adora by the waist. When the two finally broke apart, cheeks bright red and lips on fire, it was only because both had run out of breath.

"Good start," Catra commented, blue and gold eyes dancing in the darkness. "Got any more?"

Adora, as it turned out, had plenty more. By the time morning came, both left the Whispering Woods feeling happier and more satisfied than either had in weeks.

But it was Adora who left with the relic.

 _Well, this didn't exactly go as according to plan_ , Adora thought to herself as she came to, finding herself not on the battlefield, but in one of the Fright Zone's private cells separate from the Horde's general prison population. She noted with a groan that her sword was gone, no doubt taken by whoever had captured her, and the control panel to her cell was (of course) on the other side of the laser-field preventing her escape.

Adora was just about to start devising a plan of escape when the door to the room slid open.

"Oh, how the mighty have fallen," Catra said with a smirk as she entered the room, closing the door behind her and coming to a halt in front of the cell's laser-field. She carried with her the Sword of Protection. "You know, we really have to stop meeting like this, Adora. People will say we're in love."

"Catra, what happened?" Adora asked, choosing to ignore her opponent's flirtatious comments. "I don't remember anything."

Catra shrugged. "Kyle blasted you from behind with a tank. It was actually a really good shot. I'm proud of him. You, on the other hand, need to stop letting your guard down."

"I know, I know," Adora groaned, rolling her eyes as she did so. "Alright, give me my sword and let me out of here already."

But Catra just smirked, a single eyebrow raised in amusement. "Who said I was letting you out?"

Now, Adora didn't know what to expect out of Catra on a good day – truth be told, that was part of what she loved about Catra, her seemingly carefree nature and unpredictable attitude – but she was most certainly _not_ expecting Catra to say something like that.

"Catra, stop messing around and let me out of here," Adora said, a little more forceful this time. "Come on, this isn't funny."

"Maybe I'm not trying to be funny," Catra shot back, her smirk growing darker and more worrisome by the moment. "Maybe I _like_ it this way."

"What are you talking about?" Adora asked. She was beginning to worry now.

"I'm talking about keeping you in here," Catra explained, her voice growing harsher and lower as she crept ever closer to the laser-field until she was looking Adora right in the eye. "No more sneaking around. No more fighting. No more _She-Ra_. I could finally have you all to myself. What do you think about _that_ , Adora?"

"R-Really?" Adora asked softly.

She was no longer certain whether or not Catra was joking or being completely serious. Catra liked to tease her, it was true, but this felt…different. Stronger, somehow, more forceful. For a moment, as she looked into her eyes, Adora was genuinely worried she had lost Catra forever.

Then Catra smiled. "Nah."

A moment later, Catra pushed a few buttons, and the laser-field separating the two of them vanished into thin air.

"Don't do that," Adora said, letting out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding as she exited her cell. "You really had me worried."

"I know," Catra replied, smirking once again as she handed Adora the Sword of Protection. "We still on for tomorrow night?"

Adora smiled. "Sure. Provided I don't get captured again."

"You better not," Catra instructed as she turned to leave. "And don't be late, or I'm not bailing you out next time."

Adora smiled as she watched Catra leave, 'accidentally' leaving the door to the room open to better aid in Adora's escape. She waited until Catra was gone before transforming into She-Ra, but then she was on her way, making a beeline for the exit and leaving a trail of destruction in her wake.

She did end up being a little late the next evening, but that was only because she had trouble deciding what to wear. Catra, thankfully, forgave her.

Catra was momentarily confused when she woke up to find she was not in her usual quarters in the Fright Zone. Gone was the stale warmth and gentle humming of the Horde's machines, replaced by fresh air and the gentle trickling sounds of a waterfall in the distance. Her fight-or-flight instincts were just about to kick in when she looked over at who lay beside her, reminding her of where she was and why she had slept so well in the first place.

Adora.

The events of the previous evening came back to Catra all at once: sneaking into Bright Moon, surprising Adora in her bedroom, kissing Adora, touching Adora, undressing Adora…

Catra smiled gently as she settled back down next to Adora, taking the rare opportunity to watch the girl sleep. How long had it been since they had shared a bed, in the Fright Zone or Bright Moon or otherwise? How long had it been since Catra had seen Adora in such a peaceful and unguarded state, as though slumber was the one time she allowed herself to be vulnerable?

Catra considered how many of their moments together, their memories, were stolen; quick kisses, rushed goodbyes, suggestive touches, bantering during battle. No matter how much they loved one another, _needed_ one another, they were on opposite sides of a war, and that wasn't going to change anytime soon. It was difficult – heartbreaking, if one were to ask Catra – but it was these brief snapshots, these stolen moments between them, that made it all worth it.

 _Maybe someday I won't have to steal you_ , Catra thought to herself as she reached over and brushed some of Adora's blonde hair out of her face. _Maybe someday you'll be mine to have._

She withdrew her hand as Adora stirred, and smiled when she saw her clear blue eyes open. The girl's blonde hair was down and disheveled, her shoulders were bare, and she had been snoring lightly until just a moment before she woke; in other words, as far as Catra was concerned, she had never looked more beautiful.

"Hey, Adora," Catra greeted her softly.

"Mmm, Catra…?" Adora mumbled, still half-asleep. "What time is it?"

"It's early," Catra replied. Her smile finally faltered a little as she realized the implication behind Adora's question. "The sun will be up soon. I should go."

"But I'll see you again?" Adora asked, so sadly it made Catra's heart ache.

"I dunno," Catra said with a smirk. "Did you want last night to be a one time thing?"

Adora smiled and shook her head, her cheeks growing red again. "No. Definitely not."

Catra laughed. "Then you'll _definitely_ see me again."

That seemed to be answer enough for Adora, as she closed her eyes and settled back into her pillow with a gentle sigh of pleasure. Catra got out of bed, dressed herself quickly, and was just about to leave when she heard Adora mumble in her sleep one last time.

"Love you."

And even though Catra knew Adora was asleep, and thus couldn't hear her, she still smiled and told her: "Love you, too."

Then she was gone. Until next time, she thought.

There would _always_ be a next time.

 **A/N: I really have way too much fun writing these two. Let me know what you think in the reviews and comments!**


End file.
